Update from the Croatia Team - June 22, 2009

It can only be described as a gift from the Divine when all your plans go wrong, but everything seems so right. From checking in at the Knoxville airport to craming gypsy inside for Club to aviod the drenching rain, this trip has definitely not gone according to plan. Yet everywhere I look I see God's presence in and among our group. All our luggage arrived despite the airline telling us in Munich that several pieces would not be loaded. We were able to find rental cars after our reservation was invalidated. The President of China happened to be visiting Croatia the same day as us, and every rental place was sold out. But Elaine still managed to piece together vehicles for the group. The simple task of building outhouses for a village has turned into a standoff that necesitated meeting with a member of the Croatian government. All of those efforts have now been thwarted by continuing rains, but God has used that setback to soften the hearts of our teens and teach us all a lesson about loving our enemies and not returning evil for evil. It is hard to describe being so frustrated and content at the same time.

I gave the group a daily devotional to work through in preparation for our trip. One of the days lessons had a quote that has stuck with me during our time here. It said, "Sometimes you have to endure what you hate, to experience what you love." That has been true this week. I hate when my plans don't work out. I hate when others seem to take advantage of me. I hate it when I face failure. I even hate being cold and wet. Yet I love this trip, our youth, this team, and seeing firsthand what God is doing through us and in us. All in all, it is a good day.

P.S. Please tell Mercy (and anyone else who will) to pray for the rain to stop and for it to warm up a good 15 degrees : )

Shelie Shirley

So today was the first day of club at the larger village, and it surprisingly went really well. We didn't have as many kids as I had expected because I had been on the trip two years ago and seen close to 200 to 300 kids come and learn about God. We had about 50 kids, but they all participated and paid attention so well! We told the Creation story and I think that the kids truly left with a better realization that God is the creator of everything. I was proud to see the influence we made of them today. On a personal note, when I came two years ago I became especially close with one girl named Veshna. We always sat together during club and sang together and she tried to teach me some of their language. Needless to say, she left an imprint on my heart. So, when I got the chance to come back again I was so excited to see her again! She is now 11 and looks about the same. When I got out of the van at the gypsy village, she spotted me immediately and started to cry. I was so excited to see her and she was so excited to see me. I also brought with me a bracelet she gave me and a picture my mom took of the both of us on the last day of club two years ago. I gave them both to her tonight and she was so proud she tried to show everyone in the room. I was so glad just to see her again, and I pray that the picture and bracelet will mean so much to her as she grows into a beautiful Christian woman. I pray that God will use her as a witness to the other gypsies and I pray that after this week of bible stories and worship that we will cross paths again to worship God together. Continue to pray for the whole FBC group, myself, and Veshna.

Ann Flanagan

Since the youth came here 2 years ago, I knew I that I wanted to come the next time if at all possible. I have felt so led to come here to see and work with these wonderful children that I've only seen pictures of. Today I finally got to see them face to face. It was everything I imagined and more! To see the excitement on their faces as we arrived was priceless. We didn't have as many children as we expected because of the rain, but the room was filled by the time we started club. Watching these children interacting with our youth was incredible! The youth that went 2 years ago saw children they had gotten to know then and they picked up right where they left off. They played games with them while waiting for club to start. They hugged and laughed with them as if they had been here all along. Josh had told me about how the children reacted but seeing it in person is indescribable.

The day had several challenges that we had to overcome. This is typical from what I understand. First it poured the rain and so we had to have club inside, which caused us to have to make several adjustments. Second, as expected, Carmen changed things as we were making last minute preparations! What I didn't know is she would change all the songs that Mitch, Ryan and I had prepared! We had to learn songs that we had never heard!! Wow, that was fun!! But the kids loved them and we had a great time singing with them. I can't wait to see what challenges await tomorrow and how God helps us to work through them. Please pray for us as we meet the challenges God has in store for us and pray for better weather as the forecast has a chance for rain most of the week.